Grieg composed his only sonata for solo piano in 1865, in the amazingly short span of 11 days. The work is dedicated to fellow composer Niels W. Gade, who was much taken with the sonata. It was first published by
Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig in 1866. A revised version was published in 1887 by Wilhelm Hansen in Copenhagen.

An early work, and not wholly characteristic of Grieg, the sonata is nevertheless an inspired, refreshing, and well-crafted work, which after years of neglect finally finds its rightful place in the romantic piano sonata repertoire.